“pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

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bloke
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“pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by bloke »

Based on a quotation attributed to a well-known orchestral player, some people occasionally like to either correct or add (when the topic of “pulling slides to play in tune” comes up) that sometimes slides are pulled for “resonance“ rather than intonation.

Rather than either/or, It’s the same thing:
Moving a slide - to avoid lipping a pitch in tune (though many instruments offer remarkably wide tuning ranges - via “lipping” - with good resonance, particularly in some pitch ranges) - is going to often result in a sound that is more resonant.
======================
not the same topic, but a related topic:
As someone who admits to themselves that I’m not God’s gift to tuning (and still spending a great deal of time – percentage-wise – drilling myself on tuning and ear training (after 55 years or so of learning to play the tuba), One of my own biggest pitfalls is to psychologically fool myself into thinking that I have a particular tuba – or tuba playing – “figured out“ as far as intonation is concerned. Keeping a tuner on and spot checking it, though, reminds me that I’m just a fool. In individual practice, I don’t mind glancing over at the tuner when I am playing the minor third of an implied chord and seeing that the needle is pointing ten cents sharp, but plenty of other things are revealed to me as well - for which there are no excuses. I do believe this is a worthy pursuit that pays off, though. When working with some really fine bass trombone players - and glancing over with my right eye, I’m (thankfully) not noticing frantic slide adjustments to try to line up with “that out-of-tune tuba, over there”.

As I’ve observed before, this age of autotune - and fixing things digitally - has raised music consumers’ ears to a new critical standard, which musicians are expected to meet. It’s more challenging than decades ago, and anyone who doubts whether the tuning standards have been raised can simply listen to music of any genre recorded several decades ago - from “top 40” to classical.


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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by jtm »

bloke wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 8:10 am As I’ve observed before, this age of autotune - and fixing things digitally - has raised music consumers’ ears to a new critical standard, which musicians are expected to meet. It’s more challenging than decades ago, and anyone who doubts whether the tuning standards have been raised can simply listen to music of any genre recorded several decades ago - from “top 40” to classical.
Even less the same topic: a recent episode of the latest Star Trek series has Uhura and Spock singing to an alien spaceship. The producers, director, and sound team allowed them to be authentic (as far as I could tell), without any autotune.
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by jtm »

Also, to the original premise, of course they're the same thing. How could it be otherwise?
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by bloke »

Just as one really easy to access on YouTube and glaring example:

One of the worst out of tune things that has been heard by the most people (including every weeknight currently on METV) is the theme to the private detective show, “Mannix”, which ran for the better part of a decade between the mid 60s and mid 70s - and without that badly out of tune theme having ever been re-recorded and fixed.
(I suspect that its cool factor - as it is a remarkably good theme - overrides the sloppy tuning, to the ears of most people.)

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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by Doc »

bloke wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 9:50 am Just as one really easy to access on YouTube and glaring example:

One of the worst out of tune things that has been heard by the most people (including every weeknight currently on METV) is the theme to the private detective show, “Mannix”, which ran for the better part of a decade between the mid 60s and mid 70s - and without that badly out of tune theme having ever been re-recorded and fixed.
(I suspect that its cool factor - as it is a remarkably good theme - overrides the sloppy tuning, to the ears of most people.)

I have stated recently (and on past occasions) that, despite non-auto-tuned/less-than-perfect tuning, this is one of my favorite classic TV show themes. It just has, you know... the thing, man!
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by jtm »

My middle school band had Mannix in our football music flip folders. I don't know if it was a crowd favorite, but the band liked it.
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by Worth »

jtm wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 9:38 am a recent episode of the latest Star Trek series has Uhura and Spock singing to an alien spaceship. The producers, director, and sound team allowed them to be authentic (as far as I could tell), without any autotune.
As a lifelong Star Trek fan, Strange New Worlds is excellent! I recently learned that Ethan Peck who plays Spock is Gregory Peck's grandson. His portrayal of Spock is on point and very well done. Graphics, effects, role enhancements, format, etc. definitely worth watching.
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by Worth »

Doc wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:06 am (Mannix) this is one of my favorite classic TV show themes. It just has, you know... the thing, man!
A great jazz waltz, definitely. Our BQ trombone player did an original arrangement of this and we love playing it!
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by Doc »

Worth wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 2:36 pm
Doc wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 11:06 am (Mannix) this is one of my favorite classic TV show themes. It just has, you know... the thing, man!
A great jazz waltz, definitely. Our BQ trombone player did an original arrangement of this and we love playing it!
Cool!

Is it published/available?
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by Worth »

Doc wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 2:47 pm Is it published/available?
We have a lot of original arrangements and adaptations on MuseScore that we have done, but he doesn't post to MS. If you PM me your preferred email address I'd be happy to shoot you the parts!
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by bloke »

LOL…
…so I need to change the thread topic to “Mannix“, and delete the first post. 🤣
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by Mary Ann »

Since I spend my time playing in amateur groups, that does not even sound bad to me. It sounds better than what I'm used to. Sigh.
Only in chamber groups, with willing people, can we approach intonation, and I suspect my ear has gone south in a general way, willing to accept as "in tune enough" what I certainly would not have a few decades ago.
I used to have old tapes of when I was in college on violin, and I can HEAR that it is in tune, but I no longer can hear when something is NOT in tune that well. One's ears get mangled over time.
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Re: “pulling slides for resonance” and other comments on (defacto) tuning

Post by bloke »

I’m allowed to sit in with a very nice group of people in an amateur community band. A few of them are fine players, and the rest of them are very enthusiastic players. Actually, the tuba players are both good enough for me to call as subs for professional engagements.
Depending on what key they’re playing in, the intonation ranges from OK to - well… - not.

I’m sure that quite a few of them can golf 20 or 30 strokes fewer than I could manage, and some of them know all sorts of things about very complicated air movement (HVAC) systems for hospitals. Some of them know how to save lives when somebody’s having a health emergency, etc.
I don’t know anything about that stuff, and they all know something about music.
They could tell me that I’m not allowed to come and go as I do, but they are very generous and allow me to do so. It’s really helping me to get stronger reading sheet music and playing the B-flat tuba.
I can easily listen past the intonation stuff. It’s nothing I haven’t ever heard before, and I believe they are actually individually working to become better players, and their director is pushing them to play more difficult music, and actually establish a repertoire. 😎
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